An Athens man was arrested on drug charges in Watson Mill State Park recently.

Pericles Terrance Statiras, 41, 1010 Hull Road, was charged with possession of marijuana less than an ounce and possession of a Schedule I controlled substance (LSD).

According to the incident report, officer Timothy Chad Parr responded to the park, where an Oglethorpe County deputy was out with a suspicious vehicle inside the Madison County line.

The officer told Parr that he found Statiras sleeping in his car and when he woke him up, he could smell marijuana coming from the vehicle. Statiras told them he had smoked some marijuana earlier. He then gave consent to search his vehicle, where they found marijuana in a black bag behind the driver’s seat.

A white sticker scored into four small squares with an orange “three-eyed fish” on the front was also found inside a clear vinyl plastic bag. They also found a maroon moneybag with $373 in cash and change inside. Statiras said he works at flea markets and that was the money from his sales. When asked about the stickers, he said they were LSD that he had purchased at a music concert in Athens in December.

A four wheeler on the back of the vehicle came back with no wants and was impounded at the sheriff’s office where Statiras was taken to be booked.

That is what I thought would happen when the state moved out of Watson Mill Park. It will be dope city and both Madison and Oglethorpe will have to post Law Enforcemnt there to keep down the crime. It will not be long before reports of violence and other abuse will take place there. Good job on the back up of OCSO.

Dope and other problems before state did their thing and pulled out. Have not seen many church groups there in years. Do not blame this on state. Put park under private control or bid it out to run and let new owner arrest people and get county to fine them.

While the cops were wasting time harassing this guy who was minding his own business not hurting anybody, the real criminals were robbing this county blind. We need a sheriff who can allocate resources to the real problem in Madison County: PROPERTY CRIME, which is THROUGH THE ROOF in the last 4 years, not wasting time and money harassing peaceful potheads.

Really?! The majority? Children? I hope not, especially because it is illegal and causes mental health problems. However, in order to save taxpayer money and to clear out the courts, jails and prisons, I am all for legalizing and regulating marijuana, taxing it heavily to fund education against using it and to fund rehabilitation where necessary. We really can't have homeless people taking over our parks, either, even though they might not be bothering anyone. Have you seen the homeless camps around Athens and under the North Avenue bridge?

If you are suggesting that I smoke pot, I'd like to know your line of reasoning from my short post. I've stated here before that I do not consume alcohol, tobacco or any illegal drugs and never have. The two worst drugs are alcohol and tobacco as they do the most harm to the most people, particularly innocent people. The lessons of Prohibition are my "excuse" for wanting decriminalization of at least marijuana, if not all illegal drugs. The war on drugs is not working, just like during the Prohibition era, and my tax pocket is being drained for nothing. just like during Prohibition, layer upon layer of criminality have grown up around the illegalization of these addictive drugs. We need to try a better or, at least, different way.

People choosing to stop going to Watson Mill has nothing whatsoever to do with how many staff they pay to sit around twiddling thumbs or how much money is spent on the park.

People stopped going to Watson Mill because gas is too expensive to travel way out in the boonies to get there.

Throwing money at it is just throwing good money after bad. If folks can't afford to get there, I don't care how many idiots you hire to ride around green trucks and golf carts. The state figured this out. Looks like our cast of clowns here didn't get the memo: Gas is $4 / gln, y'all! Watson Mill is dead in the water unless gas goes down. Anybody think that's possible? I've got a state park I'll sell you!

(pause)
Hey, whaddya know, my phone just rang three times. First call was Mike Youngblood, second was Mr. Bond, third was Stanley Thomas...all wanting to buy that park from me! Each one said he knows a deal when he sees it...but not to worry, price is not an issue. They represent a group of investors with deeeep pockets...the taxpayers of Madison County!

For those like you, you are quite right. There really is no point in trying to have discourse with someone who has thought things through and tries to offer something useful to the reader by making statements, giving reasons and references and conclusions rather than throwing snide remarks with false accusations or attacking the charactor of the commenter. Thank you for your insight.

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